MUMBAI: In a jolt to the BJP in Maharashtra, veteran leader Eknath Khadse announced his resignation from the party on Wednesday and is set to join the NCP on Friday. “Khadse will join NCP in the presence of Sharad Pawar along with some other BJP officials from northern Maharashtra, ”said the state PNC president Jayant patil He said.
Khadse (68) had resigned from the state cabinet headed by Devendra Fadnavis in June 2016 on charges of corruption. Khadse was alleged to have misused his office to award MIDC land to his wife and son-in-law. Former BJP MLA blamed former CM Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP leader of northern Maharashtra, Girish Mahajan, for his decision to leave the party.
“Fadnavis and Mahajan were working out a strategy to destroy me politically. They forced me to sit in the office of the Anti-Corruption Office for hours, although there was no criminal case against me, ”he alleged. Fadnavis called Khadse’s decision “unfortunate” and said: “His claim that I destroyed his career is only half true.”
Khadse claimed that all the corruption cases against him and the charges of a nexus with the gangster Dawood Ibrahim were fabricated for political reasons. “These cases failed in court,” he said. After his departure from the BJP-led cabinet, he was denied the nomination for the 2019 assembly elections. He then expected to be nominated for the Rajya sabha or legislative council or appointed as governor. “When I was not considered for any of these, it was clear that I was not required in the game,” he said.
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